NEW YORK STUDENT ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA TO MURDER

On behalf of Marianne Bertuna of Aidala Bertuna & Kamins posted in Violent Crimes on Wednesday May 23, 2018.

According to news sources, a 20-year-old Binghamton University student entered a not guilty plea to second-degree murder charges. The man is accused of stabbing a fellow university student in the student’s dorm room.

The stabbing victim was a 19-year-old student who was originally from Brazil and who had graduated from a high school in Westchester County. Both the victim and the alleged assailant come from the same area and headed to upstate New York to attend college.

Officers state that they identified the 20-year-old man as the suspect through witness interviews and a surveillance tape. The surveillance video shows a tall, thin man with a hoodie and an obscured face. Officers took the suspect into custody from his dormitory. They have not indicated what the motive for the murder might be. The man is being represented by a public defender who entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.

People who are convicted of committing violent crimes may face decades in prison, substantial fines and numerous other potential penalties. People who are facing serious felony charges might want to get help from experienced criminal defense attorneys as soon as they can. The attorneys may identify potential problems with the prosecution’s case and file motions to challenge some of the evidence. In this case, the attorneys might challenge the identification of the man from the video and from others. If they are successful in their motions practice, the evidence against their clients might be suppressed, leading to a dismissal of the charges.